Mystic River -- Most Overrated Movie of the 00's?

[Darth Dzikowski]

I don't know what all these Critics are thinking!!! I'm a reasonable man, and I do enjoy the medium when it works properly. But I either really missed the boat here, or majority of the people reviewing movies have lost it.

I mean really, is it good?
Without a Doubt.

Is it top ten list worthy?
To some, I can accept even that.

But you open the New York Times or any other cities Sunday paper and the reviews for this film from one major publication to another are claiming it a masterpiece, top notch movie making, a classic, Years Best!!!

The cast on paper is flawless, the director, a legend, based on a national best seller how can it go wrong?

So where did it go wrong for me? Let's start with the trailer, and this isn't the only film guilty of this, but the trailer and TV spots show way too much. The whole emotional impact of Sean Penn finding his daughter scene was so cheapened by showing it in every trailer " Is that my daughta in thar", I mean you're practically sitting there waiting for the thing to happen, "Oh this must be when he finds his daughter". Imagine the scene without the trailer and it is possibly the best scene of the year. Now Penn is Penn and regardless of how he feels about our president he is without a doubt, the best actor America has to offer today. If there were an Actors Olympics he'd be in the running for the Gold with Austalia's Russell Crowe and England's Daniel Day Lewis. And he is top notch in this one too. And I'll even give Tim Robbins props even though his character, for an integral part of the story, is not fully explored. Instead we get he was molested by the Catholic Church and their driver, so now he's all messed up. How messed up you ask? Well just look at him keep running through these woods, that should give the audience an idea -- he's crazy! Now besides those two actors what do he get? Wasted talent -- Fishburne -- wasted -- Harden -- Don't even get me started on her character, what wife in their right mind would go and tell the local hood I think my husband, your cousin through marriage by the way, killed your daughter? Stupid! Linney -- wasted until her, yeah we killed my cousins husband but that's okay lets go to the parade speech! Crazy! Bacon -- DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS GUY AT ALL -- what purpose does he serve other than to show he's got no spine or dedication to his job? I mean these guys don't speak anymore, but I'll give you a pass on killing our child hood molested friend?

SPOILERS

AND now for the real stinker, the crown jewel of why this is the most overrated movie of the past four years and possibly eternity. They tack on the most Ludicrous plot device ever to reveal the true killers identity -- oh the cute mute kid and his buddy killed her!

Having seen as many movies as I have over the last twenty years you know when you go see a movie about the lives of three childhood friends whose lives were changed forever by an unspeakable act, and now thirty some odd years later they are all brought back by another horrible act -- and you keep showing this annoying sub plot about the daughters boyfriends mute little brother -- oh it just drove me CRAZY!! It was so painfully obvious from the get go -- and then to top it off you end it with indifferent murderers and their cop acquaintince just watching a parade?

Sorry Clint but you are Unforgiven for this Big Star, Big Director it must be good cause there's good folks in it overrated drivel, #18 on my list for 2003. I know I'm in the minority but do I get any love here at all?

[Indiana Sev]

Originally posted by Darth Dzikowski


SPOILERS

AND now for the real stinker, the crown jewel of why this is the most overrated movie of the past four years and possibly eternity. They tack on the most Ludicrous plot device ever to reveal the true killers identity -- oh the cute mute kid and his buddy killed her!

Ludicrous is the perfect word.

I agree, this movie is nowhere near top ten worthy. It's got some of the best performances of the year, granted, but the story becomes just more and more ridiculous (after a great start) near the end which SHOULD automatically disqualify it from Best Picture contention.

[NormanBates]

I agree: Mystic River IS good -- but not THAT good. It certainly isn't the best film of the year, or even close.

Of course, any film that receives such endless and grandiose ("Sean Penn gives the best performance of the last 50 years!") praise from critics will inevitably let some people down, no matter how good it is.

But in the case of Mystic River, the term OVERRATED rings true.

[AceD]

MINOR SPOILERS

The movie's not perfect, but it does follow the book almost scene-for-scene. In written form, scenes such as Laura Linney's Lady Macbeth impersonation make a lot more sense. I imagine that Eastwood fell in love with the book and either wanted to convert it film exactly or the author didn't allow any major changes to be made. Either way, I think every year there is a movie "on over 200 top ten lists" that is probably overrated in a lot of ways. In the Bedroom and The Usual Suspects come to mind.

"It was so painfully obvious from the get go."

To some, yes. As was the end of The Usual Suspects, The Sixth Sense. Again, in the book it is less obvious because of the length of they story and the more subtle nature of the "mute kid" subplot.

[TheGodSon]

I think the reason a lot of critics liked it because it didn't exactly have a 'hollywood' ending. And that's why they praised it.


It was good, with fantastic performances. But overall, back to just good.

[Darth Dzikowski]

In an article written for Entertainment Weekly about a month ago, Stephen King called it "The most important fim of the last 30 years".

[AceD]

"In an article written for Entertainment Weekly about a month ago, Stephen King called it "The most important fim of the last 30 years"."

Not to be rude, but so what? Don't try to pretend that he's wrong, it that's his opinon then he's right. Some people hated Pulp Fiction. Some people see no point in Fight Club. The problem with arguing whether a moive is "overrated" is that in your mind it may be overrated, but a lot of people obviously love it. Are you expecting everyone to agree with you? Of course not. I really just don't see the point. If I didn't like Lost in Translation or LOTR:ROTK, I could say that either one was the most overrated movie of the year. Would I be wrong??

[HHH123007]

I really didn't like it. I felt it was overacted(mostly by Penn).

Plus, the end is the worst possible ending they could think of....it totally sucked the life out of the screening I saw. When it faded to black there was the most awkward "what the fuck happened?" moment shared by the audience. I don't think anyone liked it at all.

EDIT: Oh, and I gave it a (4.5/10) or **.

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by AceD
"In an article written for Entertainment Weekly about a month ago, Stephen King called it "The most important fim of the last 30 years"."

Not to be rude, but so what? Don't try to pretend that he's wrong, it that's his opinon then he's right. Some people hated Pulp Fiction. Some people see no point in Fight Club. The problem with arguing whether a moive is "overrated" is that in your mind it may be overrated, but a lot of people obviously love it. Are you expecting everyone to agree with you? Of course not. I really just don't see the point. If I didn't like Lost in Translation or LOTR:ROTK, I could say that either one was the most overrated movie of the year. Would I be wrong??

Whoa, I think you are taking him waaay too seriously.

[randythetool]

I was wholly disappointed (**), but that's just me.

[AceD]

Sorry...no offense intended. He did call it "the most overrated movie of the past four years and possibly eternity". It was a long and well thought-out rant. I thought my response was appropiate, and not taking him too seriously.

[flowrchild]

I think Mystic River is very over-rated, too. It was a decent movie, it had some worthwhile elements, but I am just not seeing the whole "masterpiece" thing that the critics are talking about. It is highly flawed, especially the train-wreck final third. Many subplots are pointless and 1-dimensional (Kevin Bacon's wife, anyone?) and a lot of it I found fairly predictable. All in all, a disappointing mediocre movie, that left much to be desired.

6.5/10

[SenorSpielbergo]

I completely disagree, the most overrated movie of the 00's so far is....

[The Delfonics]

I agree, Mystic River could have been great, but is my most overrated... wait nm, Last Samauri is.

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by SenorSpielbergo
I completely disagree, the most overrated movie of the 00's so far is....

Disagree plz.

The most overrated film of the 00's is either In the Bedroom or Shrek. In the Bedroom felt like screaming boredom, and Shrek had little entertainment or rewatchablity value and basically poked fun at Disney in ways that were done MUCH better in the past. And it feels too hip and modern to stand the test of time.

[Jas]

Overrated? Sure.
Good? Yes, without a doubt.

And the whole mute kid killed her thing, well that's pretty much the authors mistake, but i would rather have it like that, than have them change the ending of a good book.

[blankpage]

I think 'Mystic River' is one of the better films of the '00s. It was very powerful, very moving, and most of all deep. The whole thing is more a less a "what if this happened to you" concept. Would you react the way they did? And I think they captured that very well. The performances are just amazing -Penn giving the best male performance of the year- and is a damn good film. I seriously smell some Oscar for Clint and the gang.

[Lynn Minmei]

I think that Mystic River is great.

The ending is the same as the ending in the book, nearly word for word. Maybe some of you see it as a letdown, but the movie isn't some epic or anything. It's small town America.

One of this year's best films, not overrated.

[LiquidSalt]

Most Overrated Films of 00's (IMO)

- LOTR Trilogy
- Mystic River (even though it was a very good film)
- Kill Bill Vol. 1 (look above)

[ANavissi500]

I gave Mystic River a 7/10. It wasn't incredible, and I think that people are making entirely too much out of it. It's only #17 on my list. I think that the best parts of the movie involve Tim Robbins and Marcia Gay Harden (I think they both deserve the Oscar) Sean Penn was not that amazing, contrary to many other's beliefs. He was overly emotional and it wasn't authentic IMHO. I agree with you that showing "is that my daughter in there?" was a big mistake. The part of the movie that made me the most angry was the ending...


MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR ENDING
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Kevin Bacon does nothing to Sean Penn, despite knowing that he killed Tim Robbins. I mean your freakin' job is to arrest murderers. Meanwhile, Laura Linney starts all this "We own this town" crap and that was just dumb. The only thing I felt at the end was contempt for Penn and Linney and total sympathy for poor Marcia Gay Harden at the parade.
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The movie was okay, not great. Way overrated!

[Hannibal21]

I'd have to disagree, I thought it was excellent and it's my 6th favorite movie of the year. Tight, intense, with a very poignant and powerful script; as well as a great combination of heavy drama, compelling performances, and eerie suspense. One of the best of the year. 9/10

The most o*******d film of the 00's is Gladiator, btw.

[zeppelin]

Originally posted by Hannibal21
I'd have to disagree, I thought it was excellent and it's my 6th favorite movie of the year. Tight, intense, with a very poignant and powerful script; as well as a great combination of heavy drama, compelling performances, and eerie suspense. One of the best of the year. 9/10

The most o*******d film of the 00's is Gladiator, btw.

Wow, it's also my 6th-favorite movie of 2003, I gave it a 9/10, and I liked it for basically the same reasons as you stated. And I also hate the word "overrated" (which you obviously do too). I'm just agreeing with you all over the place here, aren't I?

Oh yea, and in my opinion, the most um..."overrated" (hate that word) movie of the decade so far is Donnie Darko. Well, either that or Snatch.

[scottish-movie-freak]

{SPOILERS FOR MYSTIC RIVER THROUGHOUT}

Even when I saw the trailer, I knew that Mystic River wasn't going to be my type of movie. But I had an afternoon to kill so I went to see it with an open mind. Maybe I would find something to like about it...

And I did find something to like. I don't like repeating everyone but the performances really were that good. Sean Penn was astonishing in his role and Tim Robbins deserves Best Supporting Actor, narrowly followed by Andy Serkis in LOTR: ROTK. But the movie itself just didn't come together. It had a lot of major issues that could have made for an interesting piece of cinema (the child raping priests, Tim Robbins' victim-turned-abuser etc) but they weren't handled as well as they could have been. It all turned into a slightly better version of a made for TV movie.

And then there was the ending... it all seemed a bit anticlimactic when Robbins was killed. It seemed like Eastwood thought "I'm bored, lets just tie all the loose ends together". I would be lying if I said I wasn't a fan of twist endings (M Night Shyamalan is a genius) but this twist was just plain silly! Having the mute boy being behind the killing all along didn't work for me, you didn't know enough about him to fully care about his actions (at least I didn't).

I gave Mystic River 6/10 but if I was to see it again, I can practically guarantee that my rating would decrease.

[Jas]

Originally posted by ANavissi500


MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR ENDING
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Kevin Bacon does nothing to Sean Penn, despite knowing that he killed Tim Robbins. I mean your freakin' job is to arrest murderers.
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Your forgetting, Bacon had no evidence.
Penn never even actually said to him, "I killed him"




As for the Bacon's wife sub-plot, that was just crap

[Strider]

Well, I'm not sure I agree. I thought "Mystic River" was a superbly directed, acted, and written film from director Clint Eastwood. The acting was excellent, especially the performances by Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. The screenplay, written by Brian Helgeland, was great and intriguing. Alas, the one aspect which stops the film from being an overall great film is the absolutely dreadful ending. The ending was downright ludicrous, and it kind of cheats the viewer out of nearly-perfect film experience. If only had the film ended several minutes earlier, "Mystic River" would have been an excellent film. Nevertheless, "Mystic River" is a very good film, and I would never call it "the most overrated film of the 2000's".....

Honestly, I think the most overrrated film of the 2000's is none other than "A Beautiful Mind". The film was great upon the very first viewing, but after seeing it for a second and third time, the film felt too much like your average "Lifetime" or "Hallmark" film. And like that, the film started to become awfully boring and uninteresting. Personally, I don't think the film deserved to win for Best Picture, when films such as "In the Bedroom" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" were unquestionably superior. Overall, "A Beautiful Mind" wore out its welcome after the next couple of viewings, and it certainly was not the "masterpiece" that most made it out to be.

Strider

[Lynn Minmei]

Geez, it's only 2004, wait another 10 or 20 years before deciding the most overrated film of a decade.

Or at least let this decade finish.

[Strider]

Originally posted by Lynn Minmei
Geez, it's only 2004, wait another 10 or 20 years before deciding the most overrated film of a decade.

That is true, Lynn. Alas, we can't do that. Simply because none of our lives are guranteed. I can go out into the world right now, and get killed in a car accident. Therefore, it is my responsibility to dicuss the 2000's as much as I possibly can.....

Strider

[AceD]

********SPOILERS**************



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"Kevin Bacon does nothing to Sean Penn, despite knowing that he killed Tim Robbins. I mean your freakin' job is to arrest murderers."



You're right and you're wrong. In the book, Bacon's character talks to Robbin's wife at the parade, and promises to bring Penn to justice. He then states this again in his mind (his written thoughts). The "hand gun shot", which is quite ambiguious in the movie, is more like "I know you did it and I'm going to get you" in the book. For some reason, the movie follows the book so well up to this point, and from the first time I saw the movie I knew people were going to think "why didn't he arrest him?"...all of you thinking that are right. The movie's single biggest flaw is not explaining this.

[Sad man]

I disagree. I was surprised by the movie. I didn't expect much from it and I really didn't want to see it. I only did because of all the awesome reviews and word of mouth. It was the best picture ever, but it was a damn good one. It had a good script, great direction and above all brilliant acting (Specially by Tim Robbins and Marcia Gay Harden.) Although I do think that the movie run a little too long and that the last 10 minutes or so weren't necessary and made the movie less effective. My final rating for it is a 8/10, but in the rating scale I'm using now that would be a 7.5/10. Which is a great rating...
Sean Penn was good, but in my opinion he was much better in 21 Grams. I have my fingers crossed for Marcia Gay Harden. She blowed me away. Tim Robbins was great too. Laura Linney was good, she wasn't very good at the beginning, maybe because her character wasn't that involved in the story, but she impressed me towards the ending. Kevin Bacon is not a very good actor, he's just okay, and he was just okay here. The rest of the cast was good too.

[Sad man]

Originally posted by AceD
"Kevin Bacon does nothing to Sean Penn, despite knowing that he killed Tim Robbins. I mean your freakin' job is to arrest murderers."



You're right and you're wrong. In the book, Bacon's character talks to Robbin's wife at the parade, and promises to bring Penn to justice. He then states this again in his mind (his written thoughts). The "hand gun shot", which is quite ambiguious in the movie, is more like "I know you did it and I'm going to get you" in the book. For some reason, the movie follows the book so well up to this point, and from the first time I saw the movie I knew people were going to think "why didn't he arrest him?"...all of you thinking that are right. The movie's single biggest flaw is not explaining this.

Please include spoiler warnings at the top of the post, just in case .

[ilovemovies]

I totally disagree. Mystic River is a TERRIFIC movie and it's #4 on my list of the top 10 movies of 2003.

Most overrated movie of the 00's IMO is:

American Psycho. It's a really horrible movie IMO.

I know that movie is a love it or hate it movie but enough people love it for me to consider it the most overrated movie of the 00's.

[gyro_44]

I'll have to disagree as well. I finally saw the film this weekend during its re-release and I thought it was excellent. Extremely dark, affecting and powerfully acted. One of those movies that, for me, works on many levels.

The whodunit mystery plot wasn't perfectly interwoven with the drama, but it worked well enough. Great character study, and a great movie.

9/10

[Droog989]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the "overrated" comments concerning this film. I thought it was excellent. Although there were a few films that I considered "better" than Mystic River in 2003, it's still one of my top 10 of the year. Although there were some moments in the film that weren't perfect (and I'm still hard pressed to find many films that are), the final product is still a great one.

Hell, I'd even argue that the performaces alone make it a great film. Just look at the way Sean Penn carries an enormous amount of tension in his shoulders for his entire performance, just like (as mentioned in the movie) a convict. And the work of Tim Robbins is just........beyond words. But the best part is not just the sole performances, but the way they all come together to make a truly engrossing film. Sure, Kevin Bacon's little shpiel at the end is somewhat trite, but I'll be damned if I'm going to condemn the whole film for one moment. All in all, I really loved this film, and I can't say that it's overrated at all.

Clint Eastwood should definately continue directing. He's done an excellent job here, as he has in the past.